Life Changing
by Fairyyoshi
Summary: Horrid summary. When Amber goes to visit her grandfather; her life changes forever. May change title. Lizard x OC. I don't own The Hills Have Eyes.
1. Grandpa Jeb

**(A/N: Hi readers! I started a new story that I hope you guys like. I just recently discovered The Hills Have Eyes and I wanted to write something on it. I'm sorry if the characters are slightly OOC; just a warning. As always, Reviews are loved.)**

"Mommy, I'm bored…"

"Hush dear, almost there."

A 10 year old girl stared out the window of the family van as they drove down the highway in the middle of the desert. The whole idea of going out into the desert to visit her grandpa was exciting at first…but after the first couple hours of seeing nothing but cactus and hills got REALLY boring.

"You can open the window if you want."

She heard her mom say as she rolled down the window; the 10 year old quickly being overwhelmed by the sudden blast of hot air, causing her strawberry blonde hair to whip around her face. She closed the window and clung to her teddy bear, huffing and she leaned back in the seat, watching the sun slowly set. She yawned loudly.

"Mommy, I'm tired…"

She saw her father, in the passenger seat roll down the window and light up a cigarette. Taking a puff from it he spoke, his voice deep.

"Then go to sleep then."

She closed her eyes and snuggled up to her teddy as the van made a turn onto a gravel road.

A few minutes later the van stopped.

"Amber, wake up; we're here…"

Her mother said as she unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the van; opening the door for Amber who climbed out with a drowsy look on her face. Amber looked up at the sign; squinting in the sunlight to read it.

GAS HAVEN

The family was greeted by a man standing nearby. He was older than her mother and father by at 24 years. His hair was grey and messy; although most of it was hidden under a greasy baseball cap. His clothes were ragged and he held a greasy cloth in his hands, wiping his hands on it.

"Amber dear, this is Grandpa Jeb."

The man called Jeb looked down at the girl, smiling, startling Amber a little seeing that he was missing a few of his teeth.

"So, yer Amber, I've heard lotsa 'bout yeh."

He said with a bit of an accent, Amber could hardly understand him. She was a little bit afraid of this man, until she saw her mother hug him lovingly, then the fear died away and she embraced him as well.

"How ol' are yeh now Amber?"

Jeb asked as she held out both of her hands.

"10!"

She squealed and Jeb chuckled.

"Yer a bi' gurl eh? Well come on insid', I'll git yer stuff."

Amber held her mother's hand as entered the part of the station that was Jeb's house. She looked behind her as father and Jeb got the luggage from the van.

The house was ratty looking on the outside, but on the inside it was surprisingly nice. The air conditioner was humming loudly in the corner and the living room was welcoming. An old TV was on, showing a weather channel. The door creaked open as she heard Jeb and her father come inside.

"All yer rooms are upsta'rs.

Jeb replied, wiping sweat from his forehead with the cloth he still carried in his hands.

"I jus' got some rules tha' I wan' y'all ta follow, a'right? Amber; I dun wan yeh ta go wanderin' off ou'sid' and dun answer da walkie talkie."

"Amber is well behaved; she won't go wandering off."

Her father spoke, placing the luggage on the ground and picking up the smiling girl.

* * *

><p>Amber woke up with a yawn. Getting out of bed and putting her fuzzy pink slippers on her feet; she made her way down the hall. She peeked into her parent's room – they were still fast asleep. She looked at the clock nearby. It was 4 AM. Why had she woken up so early? She made her way downstairs, stopping when she heard Jeb speaking to someone. She knelt on the stairs and looked around; she couldn't hear any other voices but Jeb's. But he was talking to someone. She sat on the steps and listened.<p>

"No. I aint doin' tha'. They is ma family y'here? We won't bother yeh and yeh dun bother us. NO! O'er ma dead body y'here! Yer lots nothin' but trouble!"

She froze as she heard Jeb's footsteps coming towards her. She scrambled up the stairs and hid nearby so she could still hear him, but he couldn't see her.

"I DUN CARE WHUT YER EXCUSES ARE! Yeh harm e'en a hair on their heads and I aint helpin' yeh NO MORE!"

Amber heard Jeb slam something down onto the table and curse silently. She made her way downstairs, startling Jeb.

"Grandpa…who was that you was talking to?"

Jeb hid a bottle of beer out of view and looked at Amber.

"I 'unno what yer talkin' 'bout. I aint talking ta no one but yeh…"

"You were yelling…at somebody. You sounded scary. Why?"

Jeb huffed.

"I aint talking ta no one but yeh."

"Tell me, please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"I said no."

"PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP?"

Jeb huffed angrily; he somehow knew this could go on forever.

"It was a family tha' live a ways off. Its too early fer yeh. Git back ta bed."

Amber's eyes lit up.

"A family? Do they have people I can play with? Can I meet them?"

Jeb choked for a second, eyes widening.

"NO! I refuse ta let yeh anywhere near 'em! They're bad news, the whole lot of 'em."

Amber frowned.

"Why?"

Jeb took her by the hand and led her upstairs.

"No more questions y'here? Yeh must be tir'd. Git back ta bed yeh."

Amber tried to get more answers out of Jeb; but he shhh'd her and she stopped. She flopped face down on the bed, the little girl's mind flooding with questions. She glanced out her window; staring at the rocky hills off in the distance. Her mind was too active for her to go back to sleep so she simply lay on her bed, staring out the window until she heard a knock on her door and her mother stepped in.

"Amber, come down stairs; it's breakfast time."

She got up and quickly dressed herself in her favourite sundress. It was light yellow and went to her knees. She slipped on her white sandals and went down stairs.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Amber's POV =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As I made my way down the steps I saw mommy and daddy and Grandpa sitting around a large wooden table in the kitchen. I pulled up a seat and climbed onto it; right between mommy and daddy. Mommy poured me some cereal and raised her voice at me when I put too much sugar in it.

"Can I play outside today?"

I saw Grandpa make a funny face and he coughed, drinking something out of a mug. He put the mug down and it made a crash; which startled me.

"Why yeh wan'a go ou'side taday?"

"Because I want to go outside and play."

"Amber, don't talk with your mouth full."

I swallowed my sugary-cereal.

"Please?"

Grandpa shook his head.

"Nuh uh. Is too dang'rous fer yeh ta be outside 'lone."

I looked at mommy.

"Mommy can come with me, I'm not alone anymore!"

Daddy laughed, lightly hitting Grandpa's shoulder with his elbow.

"Come on, Jeb. We've been here 3 days and Amber has been cooped up in this house. Little girls like her need fresh air."

Grandpa flinched, staring at me.

"…A'right. But yeh stay in da yard. Dun go runnin' off."

I squealed happily, bouncing in my chair, jumping from it and running outside; I could hear Grandpa calling me and daddy laughing.

"She's just like her old man, lots of energy."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Back to Narrator POV=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

It wasn't much of a yard; it was pretty much a fence, some sand, an old car, more sand, an old swing set and MORE sand. Amber swung back and forth on the swing set as her mother watched her from the back door. Her eyes never leaving her daughter. The whole time; Amber was thinking about what Jeb had said about a family living somewhere nearby. The rickety fence gate creaked loudly in the hot wind, breaking the silence of the desert. Amber wanted to go meet them; but chances were she wouldn't get a chance. She silently hoped that something would happen – her mother look away for just a minute so she could go exploring.

Amber heard a voice from inside the house and she saw her mother reply to the voice and get up from her seat; opening the screen door and walking inside.

Amber jumped from the swing and made a bee-line right for the gate. She struggled to get the latch off fully. Finally the rusted latch gave way and off she went. She followed a nearby dirt road and within moments vanished from view.

**(A/N: How was that? Was it acceptable? XD This is bit different from what I usually write, but I hope it was okay and that you guys enjoyed it. Should I continue? Please R and R. If you guys like it, then I'll see you next chapter. If not well…you get the point.)**


	2. Odd Child

**(A/N: Hi again guys! Once again; I warn you for slight OOC. I find it hard to keep in character sometimes.)**

Amber had been wandering for about 10 minutes; she was pretty sure she was lost now. She had lost sight of Gas Haven and it was eerily quiet. She struggled climbing a rather steep hill; trying to stop herself from tearing her sundress by accident. She knew that if she got to higher ground she could see farther away than normal; so she huffed and puffed, trying to get to the very top of the hill. She had almost lost her footing numerous times; causing her to let out a shrill squeak. She reached for a large rock and began pulling herself up, only to have the rocks beneath her feet crumble away.

"EEEEKKK!"

She screamed, holding to the rock for dear life; somehow managing to pull herself without harm; except for a badly skinned knee. She had to fight back tears as she looked at her knee, which was red and bleeding a little.

"Can anyone help me?"

She asked no one in particular; seeing that she was completely alone… or so she thought.

She jumped slightly when she heard some rocks slid down the sandy hill near her.

"Hello?"

She said a little louder, backing away from where the rocks had fallen, bumping into something. She let out a startled scream as she turned around and met face to face with a small wide-eyed boy.

The boy had stumbled and fallen backwards, staring up at Amber with a mixture of fear and confusion on his face.

She stared back, taking in his appearance.

He looked about her age, but he was shorter than she was; only coming up to her neck. His skin was deeply tanned and red in some spots; a telltale sign of a bad sunburn starting. He had shaggy sandy blonde hair that was; for some reason beginning to turn grey. He wore a large old tattered sunhat which hid the upper part of his face in shadow. He wore a dirt covered white long sleeved shirt that was much too large for his small figure and was practically falling off. His shirt was torn at the bottom, revealing parts of his belly. His khaki colored pants where ripped at the bottom; the tears going up to his knees. They too; were much too large for him and were only staying up because of a thin rope belt which dragged behind him like a tail. On his left foot there was a ripped black colored sock and on his right there was nothing at all.

Amber cocked her head to one side when she noticed there was something…odd about the boy's face. It seemed different somehow. His mouth seemed a little off center and his upper lip was slightly twisted on the right side.

Amber knelt beside him; noticing he had beautiful blue eyes, slightly hazed and darkened by the shadow of the sunhat. They seemed to stare right through her.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to startle you…"

Amber said with a smile, holding her hand to help the boy up. The boy knocked her hand away and jumped to his feet, turning on his heels and bolting away like a scared rabbit.

"Hey! Wait! Come back!"

She cried out, following the odd boy. He was amazingly fast and she couldn't catch up to him. Had she done something wrong to make him scared of her? She stopped to catch her breath and felt like she was being watched. She turned her head and saw the boy again, huddled behind a large rock, his knees pulled to his chest.

"Did I scare you? I'm sorry… I'm Amber! What's your name?"

She walked towards the boy and he scrambled to get away from her like she was some sort of disease.

"Are you okay?"

Amber stepped towards him slowly, a smile on her face and her arms outstretched as if to hug him. He pulled his sunhat over his eyes and flinched when he felt her hand on his arm.

"What's your name? I'm Amber."

She wrapped her arms around him in a hug; he made a strange noise and bit her arm. She screamed as he pushed her away and ran again.

Amber looked at her arm, there were teeth marks and the skin had been broken, but no blood. She whimpered as she saw the boy vanish from view.

"Am I… that scary?"

Eventually she made her way to the top of the hill and looked around, she could see, what she thought to be miles. In the corner of her eye she saw Grandpa's gas station and began to make her way slowly in that direction.

* * *

><p>Eventually she reached flat ground the road she had followed. She was about to continue on when she heard something from the direction she came from.<p>

It was a scream.

A pained scream.

She turned around and ran back into the hills, climbing over rocks and calling out.

"Hello?"

Suddenly she came to a steep cliff, looked down and gasped.

It was the boy from earlier. He was lying on the ground, his left leg bent at an unnatural angle. She saw debris surrounding him and she quickly realized what had happened. He had run by the cliff, the rocks had given way under his feet.

And he fell. She called out to him.

"Hello? Are you alright?"

He didn't answer. He didn't even move.

"Are you dead?"

She quickly began to panic. He needed help.

"S…stay there! Don't move. I'll…g…get daddy!"

She spun a round and ran down the hill towards the gas station.

* * *

><p>"Amber? Amber where are you?"<p>

Her mother called, tears beginning to well in her eyes. Father came back a few minutes later, his forehead covered with sweat.

"I can't find her! Not a trace!"

Jeb swore.

"Where could she have gone? Oh my God…"

Suddenly…

"Mommy! Daddy!"

The adults turned around and mother's eyes lit up.

"OH MY GOD! Amber!"

She ran over to the little girl and lifted her into her arms.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened? NEVER WORRY US LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

Amber struggled in her mother's arms.

"DADDY! HELP! There's a boy! In the hills! He's hurt real badly! He needs help! Daddy help!"

Jeb paled.

"Whut did yeh say?"

"THERE'S A BOY IN THE HILLS HE'S HURT! HE NEEDS HELP!"

Father took a step forward.

"Someone's hurt? Where?"

Amber pointed into the distance.

"The hills! He fell! I can show you! Follow me!"

Amber managed to get out of her mother's arms and started running towards the direction of the hills but her mother stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"THE HILLS!"

Amber squealed, getting free once again from her mother and began running again, as fast as she could; towards the hills.

"Amber! Get back here!"

Her mother called. Her father began running after her.

**(A/N: Another chapter done; I'm sorry if it feels rushed. As always R&R so I know if I should continue or not.)**


	3. Lizard

**(A/N: Hello again. You guys are probably getting annoyed by a similar Author Note or EVERY dang chapter; but I'm just reminding you guys. Beware of OOC.)**

When Amber reached the cliff, she looked behind her; seeing her father right on her tail.

"He's down here! Hurry daddy! Hurry!"

He finally reached the cliff and glanced down, muttering,

"My God…"

Amber pointed at the figure lying 15 feet below them and started crying.

"Help him daddy!"

There was a steep slope going down nearby, so her father climbed down it carefully; nearly slipping a few times. He went over to the boy and checked his pulse.

"Is he dead?"

Amber cried loudly, father shook his head.

"No, but he's out cold. His leg is broken."

Father carefully lifted the boy into his arms and struggled to get up the hill.

"We need to get him home."

Amber nodded, and they started back towards Grandpa Jeb's; her eyes never leaving the boy in her father's arms.

"Daddy, is it bad?"

Her father shrugged a little, careful not to move the boy's leg.

"A broken bone is bad, yes. But it will heal in time."

By the time they reached Grandpa Jeb's the sun was beginning to set. Amber's mother stood in the doorway with a terrified look on her face.

"Where did you go? What happened? Who's that?"

Amber held the door open and her father rushed inside and up the stairs. Jeb glanced at them and upon seeing the other child; he dropped his beer bottle on the ground, causing it to shatter.

"Jeb! We need medical supplies!"

Father yelled half-way up the steps and Jeb's jaw dropped.

"Issat who I thin' it is? Where'd yeh fin 'im?"

Amber spoke sadly.

"In the hills. He's hurt really bad Grandpa…"

Jeb shook his head quickly.

"No. I re'use ta. I dun lik' 'is family, horri'le people they are…"

Father simply ignored Jeb's complaining and placed him on Amber's bed. Amber sat beside the bed watching the boy.

"Daddy…what's wrong with his face? Why is it like that?"

Mother shushed Amber.

"That was rude, Amber."

Father propped the boy's broken leg on a pillow and spoke.

"I believe it's called a cleft lip. It's a…birth defect."

Father quickly left the room and mother told Amber to watch him, in case he woke up.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Amber's POV=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I pulled my chair closer to the boy lying on my bed, my eyes never leaving him. Daddy had told me broken bones were really painful; yet he looked…so peaceful. I had never broken any bones; so I don't know what he was feeling. I noticed his hat was crooked on his head so I reached over and set it right.

His hair was so soft.

I ran my hand through it slowly, once. I noticed it was really messy. If he wanted, when he woke up I could brush it for him. If he didn't mind me using my pink hairbrush, that is.

Why had Grandpa said that? Why had he refused to help him? I didn't understand.

I ran my hand down the side of his face, noticing that his skin was rough; it almost felt like leather. I ran my finger across his lips, over what Daddy had called the 'cleft'. It made his mouth look like he was grimacing. I noticed that all over his body he had lots of tiny cuts and scrapes. I wondered if they hurt. I played with his hair a little, giggling to myself when suddenly I saw his eyes open quickly. I squeaked with fright as his eyes stared into mine. He growled, like a doggy. He was a doggy-boy?

He grabbed my wrist, the hand that was playing with his hair and he growled louder, his eyes darkening; no longer pretty, now scary. His grip hurt me a little.

"Noooo let go!"

I squealed, and he seemed to…calm down a little. His eyes went from scary to pretty blue again and he looked around.

I think he knew he was in a building because his eyes widened.

"Hi there."

He let out a loud yelp. He really WAS a doggy-boy! He sat up quickly, trying to get away from me again. He moved his broken leg and whimpered as my Daddy came in.

"Woah there! Calm down! You're alright. You're safe."

My Daddy said as the boy tried to climb out of the bed, moving his broken leg a lot of times and crying. Tears falling down his dirt covered face, leaving weird lines where the tears fell. My Daddy ran over to him and held his shoulder, speaking calmly to the boy. I don't think he liked us, for he tried to get away from my Daddy too.

"You're alright. Don't be afraid."

My Daddy used his calm friendly voice that he used whenever I had woke up from a nightmare. It seemed to work; because the boy stopped struggling and finally calmed down.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Back to Narrator's POV-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The boy leaned back on the bed, after Amber's father calmed him down.

"Your leg. It's broken, do you understand? It'll hurt if you move it. We're going to take care of you."

The little boy nodded weakly, flinching as her father placed his leg on the pillow again.

"I'm not a doctor; we don't have casts. I'll do what I can. What were you going out in the hills all by yourself?"

The boy didn't respond; he just stared at Amber, who was blushing a little.

"Do you have a name?"

The boy nodded and he spoke in a whisper. His voice sounded as if; during sometime in his life he had sustained a throat injury. His voice was rough.

"…Leezar'."

His voice had a hint of a southern accent in it; along with the rough voice it was hard to understand.

"Can you repeat that? Your name is Lizar?"

"Lee….zar…d"

Amber's father nodded.

"Your name is Lizard? Alright."

Lizard? That certainly was an odd name. Amber almost giggled.

-meanwhile-

Jeb grumbled, cleaning up the broken glass and spilt booze. Had he seen that right? Had they brought in one of HIS children?

Jeb paled.

He had come in contact with the family in the hills numerous times. And he knew that if things were bad.

They were going to get a lot worse.

**(A/N: Oh looky! Another chapter already. I have no idea if anyone is actually even reading this, so I don't know if I should continue or not. Anyway we finally learn who the kid is – little Lizard. I believe that when Lizard was a little kid; he wasn't all vicious and he was actually nice to some extent. Anyway; please R&R I LOVE to hear feedback on my work, because I know I'm not that good an advice is really helpful.)**


	4. By his side

**(A/N: For some reason FF decides to center my chapters. I'm sorry if you don't like that. And for some reason the layout won't load properly, so I can't tell if it looks normal or not.)**

They managed to put a make-shift cast on Lizard's leg, but something worried them. He refused to eat; he only managed to eat enough to stay alive when they forced him.

It had been 2 days since they found him. He was sleeping peacefully; Amber refused to leave his side. She believed that he was finally learning to trust her. He no longer tried to hide when he saw her, and actually allowed physical contact.

He was sleeping with his head tilted sideways towards Amber as she hummed a small childish tune, brushing his messy greying hair with her pink hairbrush. She saw him smile slightly in his sleep when she hummed the song a little louder; not enough to wake him. She was suddenly startled by a loud noise downstairs.

"WHARS MA SON!"

The voice boomed loudly, causing Lizard to wake up with a small cat-like yawn.

"Yer son is fine."

"WHAR IS EH!"

Amber heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She heard Grandpa Jeb's voice and another man's voice. It was deep and loud; it scared Amber. They came into the room and a large smile crossed Lizard's face.

"Papa!"

The man beside Jeb towered over him. He had dark almost black eyes, long black hair that was streaked with grey and a beard that was looking the same. His trench coat dragged out behind him. He had this disgusted look on his face.

"Leezar'!"

The man walked over to the bed, pushing Amber out of the way and roughly picking up Lizard, who yelped loudly when his leg was hit.

"Yer Mama's bin worried sick, Leezar'! Yeh bettah have a good e'plana'ion (explanation) when yeh git hom!"

Amber cried.

"No! Don't take him! He has a broken leg!"

Lizard's father ignored Amber, carrying him out of the room. Lizard looked over his father's shoulder, staring at her.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Lizard's POV=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I watched the outsider girl; I could see she was upset. I reached out my hand but Papa gave it a small smack. He was really angry at me.

"Papa…muh leg hurt…real bad…"

I looked up at him, the way he was carrying me made my leg hurt worse. He grunted as we left the outsider's house. He set me down and instantly my hurt leg buckled and I fell onto the soft sand. He looked down at me; his dark eyes became not as mean looking anymore, now that we were alone.

"Can yeh wal' by yerself?"

I shook my head and he picked me up again. He held me a little bit more gentle.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Back to Narrator's POV-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Amber ran to the window, watching Lizard be carried away. She stayed at the window until the two figures vanished into the hills.

"Is he gonna be okay?"

Jeb nodded his head, he had a look on his face as though he was happy to have them both gone.

"Jup'ter takes care of his kids. He's gonna be jus' fine."

Amber sighed going over and sitting on the bed, looking rather upset.

"We were friends…"

Jeb sat beside her, afraid that she was going to start crying.

"Don' worry. Yer friend…(he cringed slightly at that word) is gonna be jus' fine…"

"How do you know?"

Jeb smiled weakly.

"I kno' the fam'ly well."

**(A/N: I'm sorry for the awful chapter. I have had a writer's block for the past few days and NOTHING sounds good. )**


	5. Crack of Thunder

**(A/N: Thank-you guys for reading. ^_^ I need to re-watch the movie for some facts I'm a little hazy on. Anyway this chapter is going to be 100% in Lizard's POV. Gotta practice first-person writing.)**

It had been a few weeks since Papa took me home from that outsider's home. My leg was already feeling good; I heal up real fast. I lay in my bed; not bothering to cover myself with the blankets as I stared out the window, there was rain hitting it. I had only seen rain a few times before and it was real interesting to watch.

And I couldn't get her out of my mind.

I saw her in my mind, reliving the moments with her over and over in my dreams.

Is this normal? Am I real ill? Maybe I should ask Mama…

I don't know what time it was when I decided I was gonna go and see her again. It was real dark outside, night time I'm guessing. I looked over and saw my younger brother Goggle sound asleep, his weird hat over his face. I looked outside again; the rain was coming down real heavy.

I'll sneak out.

Go see her again.

I won't get caught; I never get caught.

I turned and slid out of bed, flinching a little as I landed on my still-not-perfect leg. I took a limping step.

CREAK

I froze, watching my brother, making sure he don't go and wake up.

I grabbed my coyote fur blanket and wrapped it around myself. I took another step.

CREAK

I glanced over at Goggle again, he was still fast asleep.

As quietly as I could I tip-toed out of the room and down the steps. I made my way downstairs.

I didn't even bother putting on my sock as I fumbled with the lock on the door, sighing as I heard the door finally open to me.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I squealed and jumped slightly, turning around seeing my Uncle Cyst look down at me.

"Leezar' whut yuh doin' atta bed thi' late?"

He asked me, he didn't sound angry, more…concerned. I quickly made up the best lie I ever told.

"Nut'in'…gunna wat'h the rain a 'lil…can' sleep…"

Cyst raised his eyebrow at me and I smiled as innocently as possible.

"Oh realleh?"

"Yuh-huh…"

"…"

"Can I?"

Cyst finally sighed.

"A'righ' fine. Yuh nevar saws it bufor' so I guess yuh can look at it fer a bit."

He suddenly became very serious.

"Dun make meh reg'et it, y'hear? Dun make meh tell yer Pa!"

I nodded, grinning and hugged Cyst who knelt beside me and hugged me back.

"Dun stay out tuh long and dun git sick."

I nodded again as he walked away; I felt a little bad for lying to him but he would have told Papa if I had said what I was really gonna do.

I opened the door and a blast of cool air hit me, making me shiver. I stepped out onto the porch and yelped as I stepped under the rainfall. It felt like I was being hit by a bunch of little rocks, being thrown by Pluto. I wrapped my blanket around me tighter and walked down the stairs, my feet sinking in the mucky sand instantly. The mud-sand mixture sloshed around my bare ankles as I began walking/limping slightly. My sense of direction was perfect; I knew every short cut to get out and into the village. I decided to cut through the mines, seeing that it was the fastest. I started in that direction, trembling when I heard a loud crack of thunder.

I aint afraid.

When I reached the mines I heard the loud sound of water flowing quickly, the mines flooded lots when it rained. With one hand I held the mine wall and with my other I held out in front of me, groping the darkness. The sound of water became louder and I heard a echoing splash as I stepped in water.

This isn't so bad.

I was about to take another step when my bare feet slipped and I fell on my backside, screaming as I slid down the mineshaft. I tried to grab onto something to stop my sliding, but the walls were slippery and I couldn't grab anything.

Thump

I hit slippery ground after I stopped sliding. I grabbed my now muddy, soaked blanket and held it close to me; trying to make my eyes adjust.

I knew where I was, not far from where I was planning on going.

I've walked these mines millions of times before with my Papa, I knew them pretty good. I continued on my way; every so often loosing my footing.

When I found my way out; the rain had slowed down, it no longer felt painful. I looked around and continued down the hill side, jumping over rocks with the agility of a hare.

I slipped a few times until my feet hit completely flat ground. Wrapping the blanket around my shoulders like a cape I broke into a sprint, ignoring little tingles of pain from my leg.

I made it.

I slid to a stop, panting to catch my breath and hopped the fence of the outsider's house. I looked up at the female's window, the window was closed, but the blinds were open, revealing darkness inside. I sat down on the mucky ground and stared at her window.

I don't know how long I sat there for… must have been a long time; for I saw rays of sunlight poking from the tops of the hills and the rain turn into mist. I jumped when I saw the light in the female's room turned bright. I was about to leave, but froze when I heard the window open and the female was looking down at me. She was grinning and giggling lightly, probably because of my worn, mud drenched appearance. I felt my face heat up and I turned around and ran for the hills. I could hear her call something to me but I ignored it and kept running.

"Amber? What's wrong, why are you yelling out your window?"

"Nothing, Mommy…I just saw a bunny…that's all."


	6. Until we meet again

**(A/N: Hi guys! Another annoyingly long Author's Note! I might not be able to update for a little while; seeing that I have exams and stuff. So this last week of class I might be grinding out a few shorter chapters during my spare period. 1****st****-person is actually rather fun to write)**

=-=-=-=-=-Amber's POV=-=-=-=-=-=-

Ever since Lizard came that night; I've been staying up late, watching out the window, hoping to see him again.

He never came back.

I waited for an entire month.

I never saw his face again.

When summer finally ended and Mommy, Daddy and me were going home again. I hugged Grandpa goodbye and climbed into the car.

I hoped he would appear as we were driving away, to say goodbye; or anything. It made me feel really sad. I had left him something; a little present – a goodbye gift. It wasn't much; but I hoped he liked it.

Do boys wear lockets?

I put a piece of paper in it – 'until we meet again, love Amber'

I pressed my face against the glass window of our van as we turned around and began driving away. My eyes looking up at the hills. Looking for anything…

Anything at all.

"I miss him…"

Daddy looked over at me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"I know, dear. …I know."

I started crying, big girls don't cry – but I couldn't stop. I wanted to see him so badly! I wanted to hear his voice again.

"Lizard…"

I wanted to be his friend. He seemed really really nice…

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Lizard's POV-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The night I snuck out; I was caught by Mama…Goggle had woke up not seeing me and in fear; told Mama and Papa.

I never get caught…

But I caught real good this time.

Mama was terrified at the fact that I went outside in a real bad storm to see the Outsider. She wouldn't let me explain. She held me tightly and sobbed, saying I could got killed. I told her I was just fine.

I couldn't tell which she was more – angry or scared.

She told me to not leave the house. Stay and learn from Big Brain and play with my 3 year old sister Ruby.

"If I was your Papa, I would have tanned your hide for doing that."

Big Brain wheezed one day as I paced around the room. I gave him my evilest glare and he began coughing.

"What you did was real bad."

I huffed loudly, sitting on the couch, pouting. I didn't like being cramped up indoors. I needed to run; be free.

"I dun do not'in' bad."

I replied to Big Brain as he rolled his eyes weakly and grumbled something.

"Says who? You? You're just a child. Do you even know what could have happened to you?"

I thought for a minute and shook my head.

"Could have been killed, by the Outsiders or a member of the other clan. They don't care if you're a child and one of us."

"Wh' they ou'siders?"

I heard Big Brain mutter. 'children these days…' under a hoarse breath and told me to sit closer. I obeyed and sat as close as possible.

"Let me tell you a story."

He began to tell me of how we were all once like them. Our ancestors were Outsiders too until something called a 'Government' came and told them to leave their homes. They refused.

"They set off their bombs, and turned everything to ash. Boom Boom Boom…"

Suddenly Goggle came running into the house, he was panting loudly.

"THA' OU''IDARS ER LEA'IN'!"

I jumped to my feet and ran outside; ignoring threats of a beating from Big Brain. I grabbed my brother's binoculars looked through them.

They were leaving; their vehicle was driving away. I focused in on the vehicle and saw…

I saw her. I wanted to run to her right then and there, but was being dragged towards the house by a suddenly hysterical Goggle.

"MA'S GUNNA GIT MAD!"

=-=-=-=-=-=-Narrator's POV=-=-=-=-=-=-

Jeb stood outside, waving until the van vanished into the distance.

"Sta' safe…y'here?"

He spoke to the open air as he turned around and wandered back inside. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and walked upstairs, hoping when they packed up; they didn't leave the rooms in a mess. Starting to feel the alcoholic buzz already; he peeked inside each of the rooms. Fluffing a few pillows and closing the windows. When he came to Amber's room he grunted in disapproval. The bed wasn't made. He began picking some things up; taking a swig from his beer. Suddenly he noticed something shiny on one of the pillows. He picked up the locket and held it in the air; trying to drunkenly figure out what it was. He forced it open and picked up the paper that fell out.

'Until we meet again, love Amber.'

He knew this was probably for Lizard, and in a fit of drunken rage, threw it as hard as he could out the window.

"YER NEVAR MEETIN' AGAIN, Y'HERE MEH!"

He roared loudly, slamming the window shut.

**(A/N: See? Short chapter. R&R guys. Tell me if you like or not. Gimme tips, anything! I love hearing from my readers!)**


	7. 10 years later

**(A/N: Hi again! Sorry for Update-spamming you guys.)**

10 years later…

Amber woke to the sound of golden oldies coming from her radio clock. She groaned and slapped the sleep button before closing her eyes and falling back asleep.

RING RING

Amber swore loudly, forcing herself out of bed and grabbing the cordless phone on a nearby table.

"The hell do you want?"

A loud, annoying voice broke through the phone.

"Oh hi Amber! You still up for the cross-country road trip? We've only been planning it for what? Like…a year? Come on girl, I know you're still in bed – lazy ass."

Amber looked at herself in the mirror; her strawberry blonde with light pink highlighted hair was suffering from an extreme case of bed-head. She hadn't had much sleep lately – well…GOOD sleep.

"Yeah…yeah I'll be there. I couldn't forget this. I'm not _that_ thick-headed."

The voice over the other-line crackled.

"Grrrrreat! Meet us at Eli's, Okay?"

Amber nodded.

"Yeah…sure."

She put the phone down and she glanced at the calendar. When was the trip again?

Today.

Amber swore again and threw her pyjamas across the room as she hopped into her clothes. They were planning on taking a trip through the desert so she wanted to pack cool clothes. Not caring that her socks were mismatched she marched downstairs receiving awkward hellos from her two room-mates.

"Hey hey Amber how's it going?"

A black haired girl grinned, watching Amber shuffle into the kitchen area to grab some coffee.

"…Hey Rose."

Amber came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee, only to have it snatched away from her seconds later.

"Jason!"

Amber screamed at the older male who was laughing loudly. He took a small sip from the cup, his grey eyes flashing.

"Jeeze, don't have a conniption."

Amber grabbed the cup from him and cuffed him on the side of the head, growling.

"I need this. Seriously, if you want coffee there's more in the kitchen. But this one is all mine."

"Why do you need it so bad?"

Rose asked, leaning forward in her chair.

"Duhhh the road-trip is today."

Jason's eyes widened.

"TODAY?"

Amber nodded, draining the rest of the coffee cup. She smirked as she saw Jason jump to his feet, swearing.

"SHIT! I totally forgot! Damn; I still have to pack! Don't you guys leave without me!"

Jason rushed upstairs, Rose burst out laughing.

"Thank-God I'm staying here. Where are you guys going, anyway?"

"Everywhere, that's what's so cool. We're gonna go through New Mexico first though; seeing that it's closest."

Rose wrinkled her nose.

"Eww. Desert. I hate sand; gets in all the cracks. If you know what I mean."

Rose winked and Amber rolled her eyes.

"I'm glad you're not going; you pervert."

Jason started coming down the stairs; grunting as he managed to pull his suitcase down the narrow stairs.

"Don't forget mine. Jason~"

Jason cast Amber a glare.

"Screw that. Get it yourself; lazy ass."

At last the old battered car was loaded up and Amber climbed in the backseat as Jason got in the driver's seat.

"I'm getting tired of you dragging me around like this. Get your damn driver's licence!"

Amber shrugged.

"Later. Let's go to Eli's. That's where everyone is meeting up."

As the car slowly vanished from view, Rose huffed.

"Don't get eaten by Coyotes or something."

**(A/N: Hooray for time-warps. So off they go on their road-trip. What's the worst that could happen? ;) )**


End file.
